An IoT Based Wearable System For Quadriplegia Patients

ABSTRACT

In this work, a wearable based communication system is developed for Quadriplegia patients using Node Mcu. Effective communication with and by people suffering from paralysis is a serious problem requiring a constructive solution. Quadriplegia being the immobility of all four limbs and ones torso rendered by paralysis may leave the communicator totally unable to express themselves to medical teams and family alike. Complete paralysis of all motor nerves disables the physical function of lower part of the body below neck region. In such cases brain computer interface (BCI) will be the effective way of communication for the patients. This paper proposes a communication aid designed for the partially paralyzed patients. Wearable gloves are worn by the patient and it is used to communicate and alert the care taker and physician at several conditions.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

COVER PAGE

TITLE PAGE

APPROVAL PAGE

DEDICATION

ACKNOWELDGEMENT

ABSTRACT

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1      BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

• PROBLEM STATEMENT
• AIM AND OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
• SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
• SCOPE OF THE STUDY
• LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
• PROJECT ORGANISATION

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

• REVIEW OF THE STUDY
• REVIEW OF RELATED WORKS
• REVIEW OF IOT IN THE HEALTHCARE SECTOR
• HIOT TECHNOLOGIES

CHAPTER THREE

3.0      METHODOLOGY

3.1      SYSTEM BLOCK DIAGRAM

3.2      HARDWARE USED

3.3     SYSTEM DESCRIPTION AND OPERATION

CHAPTER FOUR

• RESULT AND DISCUSSION

CHAPTER FIVE

• CONCLUSION

REFERENCES

 

CHAPTER ONE

1.0                                                                    INTRODUCTION

1.1                                                      BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Paralysis can be either partial or complete.   Paralysis of both the arms and legs has been traditionally been called quadriplegia. The primary cause of quadriplegia is a spinal cord injury, but other conditions such as cerebral palsy and strokes can cause a similar appearing paralysis. The amount of impairment  resulting from a spinal cord injury depends on the part of the spinal cord injured and the amount of damage done. Injury to the spinal cord can be devastating because the spinal cord and the brain are the main parts of the central nervous system, which sends messages throughout your body. When the spinal cord is injured the brain cannot properly communicate with it and so sensation and movement are impaired. The spinal cord is not the spine itself, it is the nerve system encased in the vertebrae and discs which make up the spine.

Quadriplegia occurs when the neck area of the spinal cord is injured. The severity of the injury and the place it occurred at determine the amount of function a person will maintain. A major spinal cord injury may interfere with breathing as well as with moving the limbs. A patient with complete quadriplegia has no ability to move any part of the body below the neck; some people do not even have ability to move the neck. Sometimes people with quadriplegia can move their arms, but have no control over their hand movements. They cannot grasp things or make other motions which would allow them a little independence. New treatment options have been able to help some of these patients regain hand function.

Wearable sensors are used to monitor the patients.  This system has a temperature sensor and heartbeat sensor and these values are transmitted using Node Mcu. The rapid upper limb tremor movements are detected using 3D accelerometer. This system is very effective in detecting the angle, posture of the upper limb[9].

This communication aid prototype consists of wearable sensors like temperature sensors, heart rate sensor, Gyroscope. All these sensors come under sensor unit. These sensors are used to sense the different physiological parameters like finger movements (Gyroscope), heart rate(heart rate sensor), patient posture (Gyroscope). The Analog values of these sensors are mapped by the Node Mcu. In critical conditions if the heart rate of the patient falls down below 50 bpm the micro controller enables the GSM (900) shield and sends an alert sms to the physician. The micro controller enables the buzzer alarm when the axis of the accelerometer is changed.

1.2                                                             PROBLEM STATEMENT

Paralysis is the inability to move muscles on their own. This is caused as a result of damage in the nervous system therefore the message passing between the brain and the muscles is not proper. Paralysis can be caused due to various reasons like diseases like Parkinsons disease, multiple sclerosis, Guillian Barre Syndrome, stroke, etc. It is also caused by accidents which results in the spinal cord injury or broken necks damaging the nervous system.

Quadriplegia is a forms of paralysis that can result from spinal cord injury, neuromuscular disorders such as cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, and strokes. It was discovered that Patients suffering from quadriplegia used to find it difficult to communicate with their doctor about the condition of their health. This proposed system is to help the quadriplegia patient to convey the basic requirements and emergency messages by just moving the finger to display the required message in order for the patient to be motivated as much as possible.

1.3                                                AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The main aim of this work is to build an IoT based wearable system for quadriplegia patients. The objectives are:

1. To design a pulse sensing and temperature sensing system using pulse sensor and temperature sensor.
2. To design a database for the storage of pulse rate and temperature rate using mobile application.
3. To design and develop a motion detection system for communication using gyroscope and a GSM module

1.4                                                                             SCOPE

The scope of the study is to develop an automated paralysis patient monitoring system for
quadriplegia paralysis patients. This is a type of patient with paralysis which affects all four limbs and, sometimes, parts of the chest, abdomen, and back.

1.5                                                         SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This device will make it easy for the doctors to monitor the patient vitals, but there aren’t many systems that are used for the communication of the quadriplegia patients. This study provides a comprehensive source of information regarding the different fields of application of health IoT intending to help future researchers, who have the interest to work and make advancements in the field to gain insight into the topic.

1.6                                                  LIMITATION OF STUDY

As we all know that no human effort to achieve a set of goals goes without difficulties, certain constraints were encountered in the course of carrying out this project and they are as follows:-

1. Difficulty in information collection: I found it too difficult in laying hands of useful information regarding this work and this course me to visit different libraries and internet for solution.
2. Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet).

• Time Constraint: The researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. This consequently will cut down on the time devoted for the research work.

1.7                                     PROJECT ORGANISATION

The work is organized as follows: chapter one discuses the introductory part of the work,   chapter two presents the literature review of the study,  chapter three describes the methods applied, chapter four discusses the results of the work, chapter five summarizes the research outcomes and the recommendations.